The King Of Hearts
by litheart
Summary: "There once was a boy named Sora. His story seems simple at first: he is chosen by fate to save the world and goes on a great journey to fulfill his a desperate attempt to save the world from utter despair, Yen Sid resolves to form the Seven Guardians of Light from any available Keyblade user to combat the Thirteen Darknesses in the upcoming final battle against Xehanort
1. A Boy and His Keyblade (Prologue)

**_~Deep Down There's a Light That Never Goes Out_**

_The sun was too bright. _

_The boy silently complained to himself, as the heat bore down on him, showing no mercy, even as he covered his eyes with his arm in a feeble attempt to block the rays from hitting his face._

_This was just like Sora. _

_He was just an ordinary, lazy kid, enjoying his tranquil life on Destiny Islands. _

_But he knew that there was something missing._

_He longed to see what was outside of his home. He wanted to explore the worlds and escape from what seemed too isolated and boring for a fourteen year-old. He couldn't wait for the day when he could finally explore the life beyond Destiny Islands with his friends by his side._

_"Sora!"_

_A cute red-headed girl peaked her head over Sora's face, startling him out of his day dreaming._

_"Aw, gimme a break Kairi!" Sora laughed._

_Kairi giggled in response and settled down beside her friend._

_"What were you thinking about?" She asked curiously._

_Sora sighed and stared toward the sea. "Just wondering what else was out there."_

_Kairi frowned. "We will be able to leave someday. We are working on the raft."_

_She pauses and then sighs herself, "I want to see the world too."_

_Sora smiled at her, "then we will go together."_

_"Deal."_

_"Hey what about me?"_

_Sora and Kairi turned to see their friend Riku coming up behind them. _

_Sora got up off the ground to greet his friend. "Of course you're coming with us too! We couldn't leave you behind!"_

_Riku smiled. "Hey, wanna race again?_

_Sora grinned devilishly. "Sure, but I'm just going to kick your butt like I did the last time."_

_"Singing your own praise, eh? Well, I'll make sure to give you a head start."_

_The boys continued to quip while Kairi sat there and laughed along. She tried to supress the distressing sensation that something bad was about to happen to their serene little island. She attempted to ignore the sudden rustling of the leaves on the trees, and the increasing size of the ocean waves. While the boys were busy having their race, she also struggled to disregard the brooding black hole that was headed toward the island. A black storm, filled with darkness and obscurity. She knew they were all in great danger._

_The Darkness surrounded them. Hundreds of black little creatures emerged from the storm, causing distress and destroying the island that the kids loved so much. They ran. They didn't know where they could possibly run to, but nevertheless, they didn't stop. These creatures were nothing like any of them had seen before. Their behaviour; it was as if they lacked something that made them human. In the midst of all the chaos, a large doorway filled with the null darkness, formed in front of Riku._

_"Riku!" Sora called out, but it was as if his friend was in a trance._

_Riku neither turned, nor said anything to Sora. He was curious as to what was behind such a great power, and he disappeared as quickly as the darkness appeared, letting it consume him._

_Sora didn't understand any of this. He hadn't the slightest clue what secrets were held behind that doorway, but it didn't look too inviting._

_I wonder why Riku went through there, Sora thought to himself._

_But his day dreaming was yet again interrupted by one of those small, menacing creatures who took a fighting stance in front of Sora. _

_ "Alright, look here, whatever you are" Sora raged. "This is my home and I'm not going to let you destroy it!"_

_He had a strong desire to protect his friends. He didn't know where Kari was and he had a feeling Riku was in great danger as well. The desire was powerful enough to burn a hole in his heart. Sora could feel something within him. Some could call it magic but it was so much more. _

_Suddenly a long key-shaped sword emerged in Sora's hand._

_"What the-" Sora stared at the weapon, wide-eyed and mouth open at its sudden appearance._

_He didn't know what it was but the thing in front of him seemed to be scared of it. It started backing away from him so abruptly that Sora almost forgot that it was once scowling at him a few seconds ago. _

_ Even though Sora had no idea what this key-shaped thing was, he had an idea that it was going to stop whatever these things were. _

_He lifted the weapon above his head. "This is for taking Riku!"_

_The key came flying down and a bright light emerged from it, completely destroying the creature. It left no evidence of even being there._

_"Neat…" Sora said, breathlessly._

_Now that he had a way to defend himself, it was time to kind Kairi. He hoped that she wasn't swallowed by the darkness like Riku had been._

_ Sora makes his way to a secret cave, where, sure enough, he finds Kairi standing near a mysterious door. _

_ "Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, relief washing over him._

_Kairi turns around in a start, "Sora!" She yells back._

_However, their reunion is short lived as the door behind Kairi opens and a surge of darkness sends both of them flying out of the cave._

_"Ungh…Kairi…" Sora tries to move but is unable to from the force of the blow. His mind is fuzzy, but he doesn't want to lose consciousness in danger of losing Kairi once and for all. Unfortunately, Sora is unable to win the battle with himself and he lets the darkness take over._

_ Uh, my head._

_Sora's eyes flash open and he sits up in a start. "Kairi!"_

_But to his dismay, Kairi is no longer with him, and it seemed that he was no longer on Destiny Islands. He was left drifting in the ocean._

_ "It must have been destroyed…." Sora whispered, his eyes burning with tears that threatened to escape._

_Sora had no idea where he was, and he feared that his friends were dead. He was left with nothing, and all he felt was despair. _

_ But then he remembered something._

_"The key…"_

_He looked around but he couldn't find any sign of where the weapon went. _

_ "It must have been left on the island." _

_The hope that Sora felt was quickly replaced with desolation. But then he heard a voice inside his head._

_"Do not fear, brave one. For the Keyblade does not abandon the one who is destined to wield it. All you have to do is believe."_

_"Huh? Is someone there?" Sora asked, looking around, but it seemed the voice was no longer with him._

_"….A Keyblade eh?"_

_Sora held out his hand in front of him and closed his eyes._

_ "Alright focus. Keyblade, Keyblade, Keyblade, Keyblade…"_

_Suddenly, as if right on cue, the magical key-shaped weapon appeared in Sora's hand once again._

_ "So I can summon this thing whenever I want? Sweet!"_

_The carefree attitude Sora always held was back and a new desire to save his friends emerged inside of him, as he drifted towards a small, dimly lit town._

_ "Hey Donald, do ya think the Key is around here somewhere?" The abnormally large-looking dog asks his duck friend._

_ "We have to start looking somewhere Goofy. The King left us strict orders." The duck replied._

_The two friends explore Traverse Town in search of the "Key" their majesty had ordered them to find. Neither one of them had any idea what that meant but the King had left suddenly to deal with the increasing power of darkness that seemed to be taking over worlds. They didn't have a chance to ask for the details, and the only thing they had was a map. So brings them to Traverse Town._

_"Hey back off!"_

_The two had heard a voice coming from around the corner. Donald had stopped in his tracks._

_ "What do you think that is?"_

_Goofy shrugged. "Sounds like whoever it is needs our help. Lets go!"_

_"Just my luck!" Sora exclaimed with fury, his Keyblade in hand._

_The young hero had found himself in Traverse Town, a quiet little village that he soon came to discover was overrun by the same little black creatures that had destroyed Destiny Islands. However, this creature that stood before Sora was not so little. It towered over him, and its continuous attacks were starting to leave Sora frustrated and drained._

_ "Hey friend, need some help there?"_

_He turned towards the voice. A confident looking dog came running towards him while a frightened looking duck followed with less enthusiasm. Sora had no idea who these …animals were but he was not one to turn down help, especially considering this thing wasn't slowing down._

_"Help would be appreciated!" Sora smiled with relief._

_The three battled the creature with all their might and finally, Sora's Keyblade was the one to destroy it._

_ "That's a nifty weapon ya got there," the dog said, looking at the Keyblade. "I'm Goofy by the way, and this is Donald." He pointed towards the Duck, who still seemed to be recovering from their great fight._

_ "I'm Sora, and thanks for the help, I really needed it." The boy said with a gratified smile. "Do you know what that thing was?"_

_Goofy nodded. "They're called Heartless. They consume people's hearts and that Keyblade you have there-" Goofy points to the weapon, "-is the only thing that can destroy them."_

_ Sora looked at the key incredulously, "so what does that mean?"_

_ "Well, the Keyblade chose you to be its wielder, so you must have a pure heart, and a courageous soul. It doesn't pick just anyone," Goofy explained._

_Sora nodded, still not quite understanding. "Well, if I'm the Keyblade wielder, then I guess its up to me to destroy those things! Maybe I'll be able to find my friends too."_

_ "Oh, you're looking for someone?" Goofy asked curiously._

_Sora smiled. "Yeah, those Heartless destroyed my home and my friends and I got separated," he said, the upsetting memory hitting him like a title wave. _

_Suddenly he had an idea. "If I destroy all these Heartless, will I be able to bring Destiny Islands back?"_

_Goofy shook his head. "It's worth a shot. You said you were looking for your friends right? We're also looking for someone; our King. He went off on a quest to stop the darkness himself and I think he might be in over his head." _

_Sora had an idea. "Why don't we look for them together? We seem to make a great team anyway."_

_Both Goofy and Donald nodded in excitement._

_ "Great then let's go!"_

_And so, the three of them set of on a perilous journey to solve what seemed like a straight-forward problem. However, soon Sora would realize that the problem was not so simple, and that he would meet tons of enemies determined to destroy the power he held within his hands._

_"So…..ra…..s….r….ora…."_

_A voice…._

_"So...ra."_

_Someone was calling his name._

"Sora!"

"Huh!"

Sora's head flies up, a piece of paper sticking to his face from where he had fallen asleep.

"Haha, wake up sleepy," the voice laughs

Sora turns to see his best friend, Riku standing in the doorway of his room.

"Oh, hey Riku, what's up?" Sora asks, yawning and stretching his arms.

Riku crosses his arms, his smile faltering. "What's up is that we have our mastery exam in twenty minutes! Get up and get going. You don't want to fail before you even get there!"

With that Riku leaves the room in a huff.

Sora reluctantly gets up from his desk chair and sleepily puts on his jacket.

"Jeez, Riku is sure enthusiastic about the exam," he sighs but a small smile plays on his lips.

_Today is the day I become a Keyblade Master!_


	2. The 3 Original Keyblade Wielders

_**"Darkness Becomes Light, Light Falls Into Darkness.**_

_**Dreams are connected to each other.**_

_**When you fall into a dream**_

_**You are connected through dreams to "The world enclosed in sleep".**_

_**And if you open the "Keyhole of sleep" in that world...**_

_**The world will be released..." **_

—_**Yen Sid**_

"Congratulations. Riku," Master Yen Sid applauds the young boy, "you have completed the quest with great courage, and so you will be named a Keyblade Master!"

Sora and Riku had just finished their Mastery exam. There were plenty of obstacles, most of which Yen Sid was unprepared for, such as dream eaters and a newly resurrected Ansem and Xemnes. Nevertheless both showed great courage and were able to rescue all of the worlds that had fallen into a deep sleep.

It's hard for Riku to contain his shock and excitement. This had been everything he has ever wanted, and he didn't think it would ever be possible, consider the darkness that was supressed inside him.

He certainly didn't think he would out-beat Sora either.

"Th-thank you!" Riku finally speaks.

"Way to go Riku!" Sora says excitedly, praising his friend with an arm around his shoulder.

"I knew you had it in you Riku," King Mickey says matter-of-factly.

Riku smiled with satisfaction.

"Well, I won't be far behind," Axel says from across the room.

Axel is a member of Organization XIII but he had come to Sora and Riku's rescue more than once when they had been in a tight fix, so you could say they were closer with him than any other member for that matter.

Sora snorts, "_you're _going to be a Keyblade wielder?"

Axel grins, "well, yeah. I've been practicing while you guys were taking you exam."

"_Seriously!?"_ Both Sora and Riku say in unison.

Axel holds out his hand. "Mhm. I was going to come rescue you, Keyblade in hand and all. But I just couldn't seem to get mine to materialize- Oh!"

Just as soon as the words were spoken, Axel produces one of the most beautiful Keyblades Sora has ever seen.

"WOAH!"

Everyone was equally shocked at the fact Axel was able to wield a Keyblade so quickly. Despite his past, Axel was shaping up to be a perfect hero for the perilous fight against the leader of the Organization; Xehanort.

"Hey, neat!" Axel says excitedly.

"Funny, I think that's exactly what I said when I first discovered my Keyblade," Sora laughs.

Master Yen Sid cleared his throat and the room fell into a silent hush.

"Now listen here. I don't think it's a shock to any of you that Xehanort is planning something big. He must be stopped at all cost."

Everyone exchanged glances and Yen Sid continued, "It's not going to be easy, but given what we know about his plan we are going to need to gather 7 Keyblade wielders in order to stop Xehanort's plan of bringing about another Keyblade war."

Mickey sighs deeply, "We can't have that happen again."

Dark memories of the last Keyblade war come to the King's mind. "I will not lose my friends like I did the last time!"

Sora gives Mickey a confused glance. "Hold up, there was a war before this? What happened?"

The room is silent. It is clear both Mickey and Yen Sid don't want to talk about it but the King knows that revealing the information to the perspective heroes is probably for the best.

Mickey smiles a bit, "Okay you guys. I'll tell you the story. But fair warning, it doesn't have a very happy ending."

And so Micky begins to tell the three about the events that took place 10 years ago. The birth of the Keyblade, and of his friends; Aqua, Terra and Ventus. He told them about Xehanort's plan back then, to use Ven's heart to create a final Keyblade known as an X-blade and use that X-blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts.

"His plan was pretty much the same then as it is now," Yen Sid explains.

Sora scratches his head, "But what happen during battle?"

Mickey sighs, "You see, the battle wasn't going to well for us Keyblade wielders. Terra had mistakenly opened his mind to the Darkness, which allowed Xehanort to unlock his own heart and successfully transfer it into Terra's body. Ven was possessed by Xehanort's apprentice, Vanitas and Aqua was knocked unconscious. Terra's mind still lingered in his armour and he was able to defeat Xehanort, but when Vanitas took hold of Ven's mind, he created the X-blade."

Sora gasps, "No way, so Xehanort actually succeeded?"

Mickey nods, "But I was able to wake Aqua up, and we destroyed the X-blade together while Ven won the battle between him and Vanitas. Although, unfortunately, Ven's heart was lost in the process."

Nobody says anything for a while, until finally Riku speaks up. "So what happened to them. The Keyblade wielders?"

"Once learning about Ven's heart, Aqua created Castle Oblivion and left him sleeping in there until she could awaken him. I haven't heard much about Terra but I have a sinking feeling Xehanort is still in possession of him, if Terra hasn't been completely swallowed by the Darkness".

"What about Aqua?" Sora asks quietly, though he knows the answer could not be anything but an adversity.

Mickey shakes his head. "I don't know. I don't have the slightest clue what happened to Aqua."

Silence fills the room once again, but Yen Sid breaks it by clapping his hands together once.

"Well, we need to find them!"

Mickey looks up with a disbelieving look on his face, "What? But how? I don't even know where Aqua is and who knows how far deep Terra is in Darkness."

Sora starts getting jumpy, "But we can head to castle Oblivion and see if Ven is still there, right?"

Axel shakes his head and mutters, "Even if Ven is there, how we are going to retrieve his heart, we don't even know where it is."

Sora isn't even listening anymore. Once he gets an idea into his head, he sticks with it.

"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there. At least we can get Ven out," he says.

"If he _is_ in there," Axel says back, a hint of doubt in his voice.

"It is a stretch…a big stretch," Riku states thoughtfully, but Sora can see a smile playing on his lips.

Riku is in for sure.

Master Yen Sid clears his throat once more to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, alright," He smiles lightly, "Sora, you're right. Either way we need to find the three original Keyblade worriers in order to defeat Xehanort. I think checking Castle Oblivion is a good place to start."

Sora nods gleefully, then turns to Mickey with a serious expression, "Mickey. I promise I will get your friends back."

Mickey grins at him, "Thank you Sora."

"Alright off you go then," Yen Sid says to Sora and Mickey.

Riku pipes up, "I'm going with you."

Sora looks uncomfortable, "Erm… well, are you sure, Riku? It's going to be dangerous."

Riku returns Sora's comment with a devilish grin, "You think I'd sit here and wait while you have all the fun? Get real."

Sora laughs just as Axel stands up.

"I guess I'm going too," He states.

"Eh?" Sora makes a face.

"What? Who's going to protect you guys against all those dangerous….well whatever. I got you out of the mud last time, you're really going to tell me to stay put?"

Sora knows there is no way he could convince Axel otherwise.

"Alright," Yen Sid interrupts, "Time for you all to get going. I'll be keeping close eyes on all of you."

With a small shake of his wrist, Sora's mind starts fading until there is nothing but darkness consuming him.


End file.
